-
1
U C L I n s t i t u t e o f E d u c a t i o n 2 0 1 7
A review of Education for
Sustainable Development and
Global Citizenship Education in
Teacher Education
This paper was commissioned by the Global Education Monitoring
Report as background information
to assist in drafting the 2017/8 GEM Report, Accountability in
education: Meeting our commitments.
It has not been edited by the team. The views and opinions
expressed in this paper are those of the
author(s) and should not be attributed to the Global Education
Monitoring Report or to UNESCO. The
papers can be cited with the following reference: “Paper
commissioned for the 2017/8 Global
Education Monitoring Report, Accountability in education:
Meeting our commitments”. For further
information, please contact [email protected].
ED/GEMR/MRT/2017/P1/8
Background paper prepared for the 2017/8 Global Education
Monitoring Report
Accountability in education: Meeting our commitments
mailto:[email protected]
-
55
Abstract
UCL Institute of Education1 Teacher education can make an
important contribution to raising understanding of Sustainable
Development Goals within education. Education for sustainable
development (ESD) and global citizenship education (GCED), human
rights, peace and inter-cultural understanding can be seen within a
range of courses for the initial training and continuing
professional development of teachers. However, in many instances
they are seen as optional extras to core courses. There is a
tendency in many countries for ESD and GCED to be promoted within
teacher education along parallel lines. To maximise impact, there
is a need for these initiatives to come more closely together. ESD
and GCED approaches tend to promote a social constructivist
approach to teaching and learning. This can present major
challenges to securing broader support because it is counter to
dominant approaches to the training and education of teachers.
Civil society organisations and policy-makers outside of education
have tended to have a major influence in determining the practices
of ESD and GCED within teacher education. To measure progress,
indicators need to be developed that make connections between ESD
and GCED and current themes within education such as global
competencies, cultural understanding and moral and social purpose
of teaching. Networks, be they national, regional or international,
can play an important role in sharing expertise and influencing
policy-makers.
1 By Douglas Bourn, Frances Hunt and Phil Bamber (Liverpool Hope
University). Contact author: Douglas Bourn, [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]
-
55
Acknowledgements
This report would not have been possible without the support,
involvement and gathering of data from
colleagues around the world. These include: Nicole Blum, Maria
Adelina Calvo Salvador, Sam Colley, Catherine
Corbaz, Debbie Cotton, Veerle Dieltiens, Lorna Down, Naureen
Durrani, Marta Gontarska, Lucy Gray, Steven
Hargadon, Jo Heslop, Charles Hopkins, Boris Lazzarini, Kyoungwon
Lee, Alison Leonard, Urszula Markowska,
Rosalyn McKeown, Yoko Mochizuki, David Montemurro, Silvia
Moraes, Amy North, Roy Oluwu, Anupam
Pachauri, Aamna Pasha, Paweł Rudnicki, Musafir Shankar, Chris
Shelton, Miquel Silva, Siobhan Sleeman, Hugh
Starkey, Marcin Starnawski, Marcia Stewart, Victoria Thoresen,
Xiaodan Sun and Kuang Wei.
-
55
Outline Abstract
...................................................................................................................................................................
2
Acknowledgements
................................................................................................................................................
3
1 Introduction
.....................................................................................................................................................
6
2 Context
............................................................................................................................................................
7
2.1 Themes in academic literature and teacher education
................................................................
7
2.2 Influence of Social and Political Goals
.......................................................................................................
7
2.3 Factors that can support or inhibit ESD and GCED in teacher
education ................................................ 8
3 Common ways of preparing teachers in ESD and
GCED..............................................................................
9
3.1 Initial teacher education
..............................................................................................................................
9
3.2 Continuing professional development
......................................................................................................
10
3.3 Different Pedagogical Approaches
...........................................................................................................
10
4 Evidence Base
..............................................................................................................................................
11
Initial teacher education
......................................................................................................................
11
Continuing Professional Development
................................................................................................
12
Scale of provision
.................................................................................................................................
13
Examples of practice in thematic areas
..............................................................................................
13
4.4.1 Sustainable development
............................................................................................................
13
4.4.2 Global citizenship education
........................................................................................................
14
4.4.3 Peace education
...........................................................................................................................
14
4.4.4. Intercultural learning
....................................................................................................................
15
4.4.5. Human rights and teacher
education..........................................................................................
15
4.4.6. Gender equality in teacher education
.........................................................................................
16
Concluding from this evidence
............................................................................................................
16
5 Methods, forms and recommendations for comparative monitoring
of ESD and GCED in teacher
education
..............................................................................................................................................................
17
Teacher education
networks................................................................................................................
17
5.1.1 UNESCO and International Network of Teacher Education
Institutions (INTEI) ........................ 17
5.1.2 UK Teacher Education for Equity and Sustainability Network
................................................... 18
5.1.3 World Programme for Human Rights Education
.........................................................................
18
5.1.4 United States Teacher Education for Sustainable
Development Network ............................... 19
5.1.5 The role and potential of regional and national networks
......................................................... 19
Monitoring curricula and frameworks for quality assurance in
teacher education ......................... 20
5.2.1 Monitoring institutional commitments to ESD/GC
.....................................................................
20
-
55
International surveys to support ESD / GCED monitoring in
teacher education .............................. 20
6 Recommendations to improve teacher education in the areas of
ESD and GCED .................................. 21
7 Prospects for achieving target 4.7 through teacher education
programmes........................................... 26
8 Conclusions
...................................................................................................................................................
27
9 APPENDIX 1: Background country information on how teacher
education incorporates sustainable
development, global citizenship, human rights, intercultural
understanding, peace and gender .................. 29
10 Examples of practice
................................................................................................................................
38
Country examples
.................................................................................................................................
38
10.1.1 Australia
........................................................................................................................................
38
10.1.2 Brazil
..............................................................................................................................................
39
10.1.3 Canada
..........................................................................................................................................
40
10.1.4 China
.............................................................................................................................................
41
10.1.5 Costa Rica
.....................................................................................................................................
42
10.1.6 England
.........................................................................................................................................
42
10.1.7 Ireland
...........................................................................................................................................
43
10.1.8 Jamaica
.........................................................................................................................................
44
10.1.9 Nigeria
...........................................................................................................................................
45
10.1.10 Pakistan
....................................................................................................................................
45
10.1.11 Poland
.......................................................................................................................................
46
10.1.12 South Africa
...............................................................................................................................
47
10.1.13 South Sudan
.............................................................................................................................
48
10.1.14
Spain..........................................................................................................................................
48
10.1.15 Switzerland
................................................................................................................................
49
10.1.16 Uganda
......................................................................................................................................
49
10.1.17 United States of America
.........................................................................................................
50
Global examples
...................................................................................................................................
51
10.2.1 Cross-country examples
...............................................................................................................
51
Examples of teacher education networks and resource banks
........................................................ 52
11 References
................................................................................................................................................
55
-
55
1 Introduction
This paper has been produced to inform UNESCO in its preparation
for the 2017 Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM) Report. Its
purpose is to examine the current preparation of teachers in
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship
Education (GCED) as outlined in the Sustainable Development Goal
(SDG) target 4.7, which calls countries to:
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and
skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among
others, through education for sustainable development and
sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of
a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and
appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to
sustainable development.
It can be argued that the areas of ESD and GCED cover a very
broad range of themes and concepts (see Bourn, 2015; Nolet, 2016;
Peters, et al, 2008). For the purposes of this paper, the focus
will be on identifying how:
Specific themes such as gender equality, peace education, human
rights, and an understanding of cultural diversity are reflected
within teacher education around the world.
Linkages are made to relevant debates within teacher education
and the broader social purpose of education.
The literature for this study is based on looking not only at
material that makes direct reference to ESD and GCED, but also
broader themes that have a potential bearing on these areas such as
a sense of global, social and environmental responsibility and a
commitment to social justice. The literature considered
covered:
Academic books and journal articles.
Research papers and reports, Masters and Doctoral level
dissertations.
Policy reports, grey literature and other evidence from teacher
education practitioners.
Web based approaches, initiatives, resources and examples of
practice.
In some instances, data has been gathered via email exchanges
with professionals in the field, where literature is not
available.
This report will focus on the preparation of teachers for the
compulsory school cycle with the following questions:
What are common ways of preparing teachers in the areas of ESD
and GCED?
What is the best methodology to monitor the GCED and ESD-related
training of teachers, particularly at the level of initial teacher
education (ITE) from a comparative perspective? Have there been any
attempts to compare the efforts of countries in including ESD and
GCED in their teacher education curricula and practice? What
obstacles need to be overcome to draw such comparisons at a global
level?
What is the available evidence base on the extent to which GCED
and ESD are included in ITE and materials in different countries,
as well as CPD programmes? What are the most emphasized GCED and
ESD-related issues in teacher training around the world?
What could be the best mechanisms to improve GCED and
ESD-related teacher education?
What are the prospects (given the current situation and the
available evidence) that systems will meet the 4.7 target in
relation to teacher education by 2030?
In this paper teacher education includes the initial and
in-service continuing professional development (CPD) of
teachers.
-
55
UNESCO has over the past decade produced a range of publications
on teacher education including a number related to specifically to
ESD. This paper aims to build on this work and take the discussions
to a broader context that brings in areas which have to date had
less attention such as GCED, human rights and gender equality.
2 Context
In this section, we provide some context to the study.
Specifically, we look at the focus and scope of ESD and GCED in
academic literature and teacher education; and some of the known
factors that can encourage or challenge the incorporation of ESD
and GCED into teacher education.
2.1 Themes in academic literature and teacher education In
relation to the themes covered in SDG 4.7, teacher education
perhaps is most evident in recently published major academic
publications on ESD (Barth et al, 2016; Chalkey et al, 2010;
Stibbe, 2009). There are also recent GCED publications that have a
focus on teacher education (Gaudelli, 2016; Harshman et al, 2015;
Peters, et al, 2008). It is noticeable that environmental awareness
(Hwang, 2008; Alvarex-Garcia, et al., 2015; Redman, 2013) and
global and inter-cultural competencies (Grant and Portera, 2011;
Holmes et al, 2016) have some prominence. Human rights and peace
are less prominent in academic literature on teacher education. The
area where there has perhaps been least debate is in the
incorporation of gender awareness into teacher education (Crocco,
2010; Jennings, 2007). Teacher education around the world has
increasingly recognised the need to respond to the economic,
social, cultural and political challenges taking place in the
world. For example, the changing cultural composition of many
societies has led to many countries including inter-cultural
competencies within their training of teachers (Cushner, 2011,
2012, 2014; Grant and Portera, 2011). There are also examples of
teachers from conflict-affected states being trained in peace
education initiatives (Bretherton et al, n.d.). Concerns with
themes such as climate change and pollution can be seen in an
increased emphasis in developing knowledge and skills on
environmental matters in teacher education.
2.2 Influence of Social and Political Goals
A society's perception of the value and role of teachers can
often be related to broader social and political goals. ESD and
GCED themes amplify questions about the purpose and role of
teachers in society, and especially the extent to which they have a
role beyond simply imparting knowledge and skills, including
promoting themes such as social justice, greater equity in the
world and a sense of environmental responsibility (Bretherton et
al, n.d; Jones, 2009) A feature of the discourses around ESD and
GCED that is directly relevant to teacher education is the extent
to which these themes could be interpreted as instruments to
achieve pre-determined goals. The dangers of focusing on societal
outcomes and behaviour change rather than educational processes is
particularly relevant in the discussions on ESD and teacher
education (Pipere, et al, 2015; Manteaw, 2012; Mannion, et al.,
2014). Initiatives in ESD and teacher education also often support
a re-orientation towards quality teacher education. Proponents of
this approach have suggested that, 're-orientating education to
address sustainability is a deep process that involves changes in
programmes, practices and policy, as well as awareness, knowledge,
skills and values and acceptance of the sustainability paradigm'
(McKeown, 2014:129).This is significant because poor
-
55
quality of teacher education in many areas around the world can
have a direct impact of the promotion and inclusion of ESD and
GCED.
2.3 Factors that can support or inhibit ESD and GCED in teacher
education
The following are known to influence ESD and GCE in teacher
education: Policy-makers and Civil Society Organisations The extent
to which ESD and GCED are prioritized by a range of international,
national and local actors is crucial in determining whether, and
the extent to which, teacher education supports global themes.
Increasingly, governments and policy-makers are encouraging teacher
development programmes to include themes such as cultural
understanding, global awareness and sustainable literacy. Examples
of this can be found in Canada (Mundy et al., 2007); Finland
(Alasuutari, 2011); Ireland (Martin et al, 2016); Scotland (Bourn
et al, 2016; Wisely, et al., 2010); South Africa (Lotz-Sistka,
2011) and South Korea (Sung, 2015). NGOs and civil society
organisations are major drivers in many regions of the world. Their
involvement is however closely related to funding, which often
results in unsustainable practice (Ongevalle et al., 2011). Initial
teacher education (ITE) initiatives that have been more
university-led have tended to be more sustainable because the
outcomes have been built into follow up courses (e.g. Martin et al,
2016). Motivations and enthusiasm of teachers An underlying
assumption in much of the literature is the importance of teachers’
own motivations and enthusiasm for ESD and GCED in their classroom
practice. The extent to which a teacher is concerned with themes
such as social justice (Boylan and Woolsey, 2015), compassion and
empathy can play an important role in influencing the impact of ESD
and GCED within the classroom. This means that in teacher
education, the relationship between a teacher's own values and the
skills needed to teach global citizenship themes, for example, is
important (see: Andreotti, 2012; Gaudelli, 2016; Osler and Starkey,
1996; Lang-Wojtasik, 2014.) Carano's (2013) research identified
that where teachers were globally minded, their influences came
from a range of factors including the family, exposure to
diversity, minority status, attending global education courses and
international travel. However, there is also evidence that
pressures on achieving targets can have a demotivating influence
(Czerniawski, 2011). The role of teacher educators The role of
teacher educators is crucial in developing trainee teachers, but
they often do not get the focus they deserve:
Despite their important role, teacher educators are often
overlooked … Yet the role of the teacher educator is difficult and
complex and of great importance. In both developing and developed
contexts, better student learning outcomes could be attained if
teacher educators were better prepared, resourced and supported
(Deem & Lucas, 2007). Despite this reality, in very few
countries are there effective frameworks for the professional
development, support and guidance of the teacher educator. Rather
than planned programs of work, many teacher educators approach
their work in an ad hoc way (INEE, 2015: 104-5).
In relation to teacher education in ESD and GCED there is
evidence to suggest that (like teachers), motivated and
enthusiastic teacher educators are more likely to include global
themes (Hunt, 2012). With teacher educators often having autonomy
in what they teach and how they train teachers, the focus on ESD
and GCED can be limited and ad hoc in nature.
-
55
Competing priorities There are competing priorities within
education systems which can impact on whether and the extent to
which ESD and GCED are included in teacher education. To prepare
teachers for the classroom, policy makers already have increased
requirements (Moore, 2005). In cases where GCED and ESD are not
included in the curriculum, teacher educators have to be creative
and imaginative in arguing for their inclusion within courses.
Pedagogical focus Proponents of ESD and GCED tend to call for a
constructivist approach to learning and see it as part of a
transformative approach to learning (McKeown and Hopkins, 2010;
Sterling, 2001). Similar themes can be found within the discussions
on GCED, human rights and inter-cultural education (Bourn, 2015;
Gaudelli, 2016; Osler and Starkey, 2010; Scheunpflug, 2011; Wisely,
et al., 2010). However, as evidence from different regions of the
world has identified, the skills that many teachers have mastered
are often related to reproduction of bodies of knowledge within the
classroom, teacher- rather than learner-led pedagogical approaches
and an over-emphasis on usage of textbooks (Darling-Hammond and
Liebermann, 2012; Bajaj, 2012; Kithuka, 2015; Griffin, 2012). How
teachers are trained and the pedagogical focus of that training is
therefore crucial.
3 Common ways of preparing teachers in ESD and GCED
This section looks at the common ways of preparing teachers in
ESD and GCED. The areas it covers includes the different forms of
ITE and CPD and their approaches to pedagogy.
3.1 Initial teacher education
ESD and GCED can be seen across a range of forms of teacher
education. In ITE, these can be best summarised as:
Training on the purpose and role of teaching and it wider social
purpose within ITE.
Content within ITE training for subject-based teachers,
particularly in geography, sciences, citizenship/civics/social
studies, and religious education.
Specialist modules and courses, usually of an optional nature
within ITE – often on longer teacher preparation courses.
Courses aimed at existing or prospective teachers, such as
undergraduate education degree courses and masters level
programmes. (These may not be explicitly identified as teacher
training.)
Short sessions introducing trainees to these concepts, but with
little depth.
For the most part, ITE provision is led by higher education
institutions such as universities or teacher training colleges,
where teacher educators have a critical role in deciding whether
and the extent to which ESD and GCED are included. At times,
external providers can support ITE provision in more specialist
themes (e.g. Bergumuller, 2016; Boni et al, 2013; Schell-Straub,
2013; Wierenga and Guevera, 2013). A range of publications discuss
ESD and GCED in ITE provision (Petegem et. al, 2007; Wisely et al,
2010; McLean and Cook, 2011; Darji and Lang-Wojtasik, 2014), but
these commonly suggest that such courses are often seen as optional
and extra to core provision (Choi, 2011; Gaudelli, 2016). Training
teachers on ESD and GCED is not only about the course content and
its delivery. McKeown (2014: 128) describes a more holistic
approach to ESD within teacher education institutions, that ‘have
accumulated a great
-
55
deal of experience in reorienting teacher education to address
sustainability through efforts to infuse ESD into teacher
education, curriculum, professional development programmes and
certification'.
3.2 Continuing professional development
CPD plays an important role in the development of teachers in
relation to ESD and GCED. CPD in these themes often consists
of:
Professional development courses run by NGOs, universities or
private companies.
Study abroad or international partnership initiatives (Martin
and Raja, 2014; Liddy, 2016).
Outdoor learning activities particularly in environmental
education (Rickwood, et al, 2009; Tan-Hus, et al, 2007).
Courses that are part of broader accredited or validated
programmes such as at Masters level.
Teacher-led CPD based on forms of peer learning.
Courses can be short, often running for one day, a week or as a
series of workshops over a term. Organisations are also
increasingly offering CPD as online courses. The type of provision
varies and might be dependent on the needs and interests of
teachers and schools, the availability of CPD provision in the area
or a specific drive by local / national government or international
organisations. Many of these initiatives are dependent on financial
support, either from external sources or from within school
budgets.
3.3 Different Pedagogical Approaches
ESD and GCED themes tend to be linked to promoting a more
learner-centred and participatory form of pedagogical practice. But
in many parts of the world, the dominant pedagogical approach is a
transmissive one with the teacher playing the role of the deliverer
of bodies of knowledge that need to be understood and reproduced
through examinations and testing. Around the world therefore you
will find a range of pedagogical approaches as described below (and
as described by Westbrook et al, 2013). Behaviourist: A teacher
centred, whole-class teaching approach with an emphasis on the use
of textbooks. Based on an assumption that learning will lead to
behaviour change. Some examples in relation to ESD and GCED
include:
teaching human rights in India (Bajaj, 2012);
environmental awareness in Zimbabwe (Ongevalle et.al, 2011);
global education in the Czech Republic (Skalicka and Sobotova,
2016).
Constructivist: activity and project based work with an emphasis
on experiential learning:
Environmental education, particularly outdoor learning (Field
Studies Council, 2007: Natural Connections Project, 2016; Learning
and Teaching Scotland, 2016; Knight,2013 )
Social Constructivist: Teacher guided, learner-centred, group
work, cooperative learning, inquiry-based, example:
-
55
Nali Kali in India (CEI, n.d). Also see: Gillies et al (2008);
Baines, et al (2017).
Liberationist: Critical Theory, critical pedagogies.
Examples:
Philosophy for Children (P4C) (Anderson, 2017)
Escuela Nueva in Columbia (Fundación Escuela Nueva, 2016).
There are examples from around the world that encourage linkages
between increased knowledge and understanding about ESD and GCED
with broader pedagogical issues. A related consideration is whether
these themes should be aiming to promote broader universalist
approaches or more relativist notions. This can be particularly
seen within the discussions on gender awareness and teacher
education. Crocco (2010:22) notes that 'presenting a complex,
multifaceted and balanced portrayal of women of the world can be
difficult' in the context of the influences of media stereotypes
and cultural essentialising.
4 Evidence Base
In this section, evidence is provided of ESD and GCED2 in ITE
and CPD in different country contexts3 and across the key thematic
areas. The countries were chosen because of evidence of interesting
practice, the availability of information and the need to cover a
wide geographic area. It does not attempt to provide a systematic
analysis of evidence in the field, but provides support to Section
3 by giving more detailed evidence of examples of ESD and GCED in
teacher education. The bulk of the evidence is presented in
2 We use the term ‘global themes’ in a broad sense to
incorporate global citizenship education, education for
sustainable
development, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a
culture of peace and non-violence and an appreciation of cultural
diversity. Where evidence focuses on specific initiatives and
ideas, we highlight this. 3 Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa
Rica, England, Ireland, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain,
USA, West Indies.
-
12
APPENDIX 1: Background country information on how teacher
education incorporates sustainable development, global citizenship,
human rights, intercultural understanding, peace and gender global
themes in different country settings as well as examples of
practice. It provides comparative detail of provision between
countries. It also provides further interesting examples of
evidence of projects and initiatives, where available. This section
brings the data together, looking at how global themes are
incorporated into teacher education, the scale and type of content
in evidence, and any information on impact. Examples of practice
include a range of models from different settings and across
thematic areas, which include innovative alongside more traditional
models.
Initial teacher education In most of the countries identified
for this study, the coverage of global and sustainability themes in
ITE is limited in scale and usually (i) a result of individual
interests of teacher educators or (ii) where an institution, in
responding to their inclusion within the school curriculum, has
included specific modules or courses on these themes (e.g.
Montemurro et al, 2014 in Canada; Wisely et.al., 2010 in Scotland;
Scoffham, 2013 in England). There is also evidence of ESD and
GCED-related modules in ITE course outlines from the West Indies,
England and Brazil (see: Appendix 1, Section 9). In some cases,
institutional or project-driven initiatives can support teacher
educators to develop or enhance global themes in their practice
(e.g. Hunt, 2102; Ferreira et al, 2015a, 2015b). While NGOs and
other outside organisations are less involved in ITE, there is
evidence of them being used by some tutors to provide more
specialised interventions where necessary (e.g. Hunt et al, 2011).
There are also examples of ITE programmes including initiatives to
support inter-cultural learning and understanding via international
study visits and online interactive projects involving teacher
educators (Carr, 2016).
Continuing Professional Development There seems more evidence of
CPD being used to support teacher education on global and
sustainability themes. This is rarely done in any systematic way,
but is often a result of individual interests of school leaders /
teachers in schools and the availability of relevant CPD. There is
some evidence of nationally-driven CPD programme4 which support
teacher education on global and sustainability themes:
South Korea – where the MOE’s CPD programme in 2016 included
human rights education, peace and cultural diversity. Each teacher
is encouraged to take 60 hours of CPD per year and courses vary in
length.
The Global Learning Programme is a government-funded programme
which covers the four regions of the UK. The aims is for 50% of
schools to engage with the GLP in each region. A key feature of the
GLP is the development of teachers’ understanding of global issues
and confidence to incorporate global learning into their teaching
via CPD.
There are also examples of more locally-driven global support to
teachers e.g. Spain has local CPD programmes that can include
global issues.
Continuing professional development as suggested in the previous
section takes a variety of forms:
4 See Appendix 1 for further information and information
sources
-
13
Often CPD on ESD and GCED is run by NGOs e.g. Kenya
Environmental Education Network5;
CPD on ESD and GCED can be part of externally-funded
(international organisations, bilateral or multilateral donors)
projects, e.g. SSTEP project in South Sudan (Reisman and Janke,
2015); Gender Socialisation in Schools project in Uganda (El-Bushra
and Rees Smith, 2016).
Online initiatives include conferences (GEC6) and distance
learning programmes (British Council, Schools Online7).
There are exchange programmes for teachers.
CPD can be peer-led (GLP in England), rather than external.
There are a number of examples of published guidelines to
support teachers incorporate issues such as peace into their
teaching and classroom practice.
Many CPD examples are just one day courses, but longer and more
developmental courses have been identified that can enhance deeper
learning.
For teachers who are interested in a more in-depth understanding
of specific global issues, there is evidence of teacher-led action
research on global themes (in England via the GLP8); and
universities that run Masters and PhD programmes taken by
teachers9.
Scale of provision In many cases, data that provides evidence on
scale are gathered from self-reporting interested parties, e.g.
teacher educators and NGOs with an interest in specific global or
sustainability themes. This means that scale of incorporation can
be over-estimated. Data on scale where available is discussed in
Appendix 1, in examples to follow and within survey-based
literature (Hunt et al, 2011; McKeown and Hopkins, 2014; OHCHR,
2015; Teacher Education for ESD Network, 2013). Data on scale shows
that unless there is a national drive or external input for GCED
and ESD in teacher education, then provision by teacher educators
tends to be ad-hoc and limited.
Examples of practice in thematic areas In this section, we
provide examples of practice within ITE and CPD in key thematic
areas under discussion in this paper. Further examples and more
information can be found in Appendix 1.
4.4.1 Sustainable development
There are a considerable number of initiatives that support ESD
in teacher education, some of which are described below or can be
found in Appendix 1. The UNESCO Chair, Professor Charles Hopkins,
at York University in Canada focused on reorienting teacher
education to address sustainability during the UN Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development (UNESCO, 2005b). This work
has been concerned with systemic reorientation of teacher
education, rather than short-term in-service training that seeks to
change classroom practice in primary and secondary schools.
5 http://keenet.org/ 6 http://www.globaleducationconference.com/
7
https://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/develop-your-skills/professional-development-courses/teaching-the-core-skills
8 http://glp.globaldimension.org.uk/research/innovation-fund 9
There are many examples of modules within broader Masters
programmes or even specific programmes that focus on ESD and GCED
themes. These include: the Global Citizenship course at Columbia
University in United States; the Development Education and Global
Learning programme at UCL Institute of Education in England; the
Globalisation programme at Oulu University in Finland; Education
for Sustainability programme at London South Bank University;
environmental education courses at Federal University of Ceara in
Brazil; gender and education courses at Oviedo University in
Spain.
http://keenet.org/http://www.globaleducationconference.com/https://schoolsonline.britishcouncil.org/develop-your-skills/professional-development-courses/teaching-the-core-skillshttp://glp.globaldimension.org.uk/research/innovation-fund
-
14
Ferreira et al. (2015a, 2015b) describe a ESD teacher educator
project in Australia which aimed to facilitate change across a
whole system, incorporating multiple people, parts and processes
that are involved in pre-service teacher education, including
schools, education staff, administrators and students, unions,
professional associations, registration authorities and government
agencies. Outcomes included teacher educators’ enhanced knowledge
about and skills in ESD; changes in teaching and learning
practices, including new courses and course content alongside new
teaching and learning pedagogies; a community of inquiry for
project participants within and between institutions; new
institutional positions and policies on ESD; and new relationships
between elements of the pre-service teacher education system were
developed. There are numerous examples of CPD support to teachers
in relation to sustainable development. These include initiatives
run by the Kenyan Environmental Education Network. Further examples
can be found in research on environmental education in Costa Rica
by Blum (2012); in India by Ravindranath (2007) and South Africa by
Lotz-Sistka (2011). Science education is an obvious area for
inclusion of sustainable development themes within the training of
teachers. Around the world, there are many examples of the
inclusion of themes such as climate change, energy, pollution and
concern for the natural environment. But various research studies
(Hagevik, et al., 2015; Reid and Petocx, 2006) show that many
teachers lacked an understanding of the interconnectedness between
the environment, energy and education to the political, economic
and social concerns related to sustainable development. A theme
suggested to address these challenges is the conceptual framework
of place consciousness (Moseley et al., 2015; Grunewald, 2003).
4.4.2 Global citizenship education
There are also a considerable number of examples of GCED10
initiatives in teacher education in ITE and CPD. A good example is
in Ireland where since 2003, learning about development and
intercultural issues has been a core component of the degree
programmes for student teachers at primary level via the DICE
programme (Martin et al., 2016: 115). A similar funding agreement
for initial training of teachers at secondary level has been
existence since 2006 with the Ubuntu Network in Ireland11. There
are also numerous examples of global citizenship education being
incorporated into ITE modules (see Appendix 1 for examples in
Australia, Canada, United States and the UK). A feature of some of
these examples is that they are often linked to longer
undergraduate teacher preparation courses (e.g. Scoffham, 2013).
The Global Learning Programme (GLP) in England is a
government-funded national programme which supports teachers to be
more confident and able to teach global issues in schools. A major
vehicle for this is peer-led training where teachers with
experience and expertise in global learning set up local networks
of schools to train and support other local teachers. With a remit
to cascade training to teachers within schools, it is estimated
that over 11,000 teachers have received some form of training on
global issues as part of the GLP. Global Education Conference: The
Global Education Conference is a free virtual conference which has
run annually during International Education Week for the past seven
years. It brings together educators and innovators from around the
world over three days. Presentations in the November 2016
conference included topics such as: collaborative projects between
teachers and schools to support global initiatives; professional
development in GCED; and preparing students for a global future.
The annual conference has 200-300 sessions, with around 10,000
logins to these sessions. The conference is supported by a website
which hosts recordings
10 Often referred to as global learning, development education
and global education in different contexts. 11
http://www.ubuntu.ie/about.html)
http://www.ubuntu.ie/about.html)
-
15
from the conference sessions as well as an online network of
interested educators/ GL professionals and has a range of sponsors
and partners including Google, TES, iEARN and VIF. The overall
network has approximately 24,000 members from around 180 countries
(around half are from the USA12). Around one third of members
self-identify as teachers, and about 10% working as college or
universities (which would include teacher educators). The intention
originally was for the GEC to appeal to in-service teachers and
NGOs, but colleges and universities are also now directing
pre-service and graduate students to the GEC website (Gray,
2016).
4.4.3 Peace education
There are several texts that highlight the importance of
promoting a culture of peace and non-violence in teacher education
but few examples of literature on how this works in practice
(Horner et al., 2015). Horner et al. (2015) and INEE (2015) provide
some insight, focusing particularly on teacher education in fragile
contexts. Examples from practice that specifically look at how
teacher education can include peace-building and non-violence are
rare, but include:
Guides on how to include peace in teacher education (e.g. Balili
et al., 2013; INEE, 2013; UNESCO, 2005a).
The IRC’s Healing Classrooms Initiative13 website hosts a series
of tools for IRC staff, teacher educators and teachers related to
student and staff well-being and supporting gender-sensitive
practices in conflict and early reconstruction contexts, including
Kirk and Winthrop (2006).
Research from Reisman and Janke (2015) explores the USAID-funded
South Sudan Teacher Education Project (SSTEP) as a case study, to
explore how guidelines from INEE (2013) were used for teacher
education in practice. The researchers found that there were real
difficulties in using the guidelines in this post-conflict context,
which raises questions for its potential. For example, in the case
of SSTEP an adequate governance system was not in place to support
the guidelines. The South Sudan government placed a higher focus in
teacher education on core subjects over conflict-sensitive ones
such as peace-building and human rights. There was not sufficient
capacity or numbers of teacher educators in general, and certainly
not with expertise to support conflict-sensitive subject areas.
SSTEP did provide some training of teacher educators in
conflict-sensitive subjects, but Reisman and Janke (2015: 152)
suggest the scope and quality of what was delivered to trainee
teachers is uncertain. The authors recommend that donors have a
part to play in ensuring conflict-sensitive strategies within
teacher education, highlight the importance of NGOs to support
conflict-sensitive teacher education and recommend guidelines to
offer practical suggestions to improve the conflict sensitivity of
teacher recruitment practices.
4.4.4. Intercultural learning
There are numerous examples of initiatives to support
intercultural learning and understanding amongst teachers and
trainee teachers through:
Teacher exchange programmes and study visits (Cushner, 2007,
2009; Leonard, 2012; Bourn and Cara, 2012; Liddy, 2016).
Online courses and distance learning to support intercultural
competence (e.g. British Council Schools Online);
12 In addition, there are high numbers from Canada, Australia,
India, Mexico, Pakistan, Argentina, Colombia, Spain, Egypt, and
Brazil. 13 http://www.healingclassrooms.org
http://www.healingclassrooms.org/
-
16
However, all too often there is an imbalance in such programmes
in terms of equal access to technology and resources. Using ICT to
enhance intercultural competence: Carr (2016) describes the eTutor
programme which encourages trainee teachers to explore their own
cultural backgrounds and helps build their confidence to engage
with children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
Trainee teachers on a BEd. programme in Australia engage with
school students from India, Australia, Malaysia and Nepal in an
online environment. They develop a portfolio of interactions and
reflections from the interactions that illustrate their
intercultural competences. Participating schools engage to develop
pupils’ writing skills. Carr (2016: 112) suggests through the
project trainees display increased intercultural competency,
through developing knowledge of other cultures and identifying
similarities as well as differences between their own and other
cultures. Many trainees reflected on the impact this programme has
on the role of intercultural understanding in their teaching.
4.4.5. Human rights and teacher education
There are few identified examples of initiatives to incorporate
human rights is incorporated into teacher education. Struthers
(2015) provides an overview of Human Rights Education (HRE) in ITE
in Scotland and provides information on how it can be enhanced. She
recognises that HRE in ITE provision is ‘sparse’. Of the 22% of
practicing teachers (BEMIS, in Struthers, 2015) that said they had
received some form of HRE training, most indicated it was in the
form of a solitary lecture or tutorial on the topic. None of the
ITE courses discussed currently run compulsory modules on HRE, but
some make references to HRE in discussions about citizenship or
inclusion, and where universities link to outside organisations,
examples of HRE are sometimes included via work on global
citizenship. This suggests that where ITE is incorporating aspects
of human rights, it is often through a citizenship frame.
4.4.6. Gender equality in teacher education
Gender equality has not been a major feature of themes within
ESD and GCED in teacher education. Where the theme is addressed, as
in Henderson (2015), it is posed as a distinctive pedagogical
approach. Merryfield and Subedi (2003:14) have suggested the
following as the basis of practice for gender education within the
training of teachers:
Confronting exotica, stereotypes and misinformation directly
Teaching multiple perspectives through primary sources and
contrapuntal literature
Developing student skills in analysing how people's norms,
beliefs and values shape their worldviews and the knowledge they
accept as truth
Teaching about interactions of power, prejudice, injustice and
worldview
Providing students with cross-cultural experiential
learning.
There are limited examples of practice of how gender equality is
incorporated into teacher education. In some instances, gender
equality and peace-building initiatives are integrated, for
example, Gender Socialisation in Schools in Uganda. This
UNICEF-project from the Karamoja region of Uganda involves over
1,000 primary school teachers being trained to enhance their
knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to the promotion of
gender equality and conflict management (El-Bushra and Rees Smith,
2016: 10). The project which took place over 9 months in 2015, was
designed to sit alongside existing training and support for
teachers:
-
17
The training covered teachers’ understanding of concepts related
to gender equality (e.g., the difference between gender and sex,
gender roles and gender socialization) and to conflict resolution,
as well as the practical application of these concepts in the
classroom.
It was hoped that trained teachers would have better capacity to
recognize and address gender inequalities and conflicts in schools,
thus supporting a more gender equitable environment. Impact
evaluation research shows that the training had succeeded in
increasing teachers’ knowledge of some gender equality concepts and
how to promote a more gender-equitable environment. However, there
was less evidence of impact on increased gender-sensitive practices
within the school, where ‘teachers had not entirely internalized
the training’ and teachers found the ‘traditional views on gender
roles held by the wider community as a barrier to progress’ (2016:
7). El-Bushra and Rees Smith (2016) conclude that achieving changes
in teacher practices requires multiple interventions over a period
of time and the impact of small projects such as this will be
limited.
Concluding from this evidence This section provides evidence of
ESD and GCED being incorporated into ITE and CPD from regions
across the world, focusing on different thematic areas. It is
supported by country-specific information in Appendix 1.
The incorporation of ESD and GCED in ITE is generally via
dedicated and interested teacher educators (e.g. Scoffham, 2013;
Carr, 2016).
Some teacher preparation programmes have specific modules
related to ESD and GCED. Teacher educators seem more able to
incorporate these aspects on longer courses, such as undergraduate
teaching programmes.
Some subject areas more easily lend themselves to ESD and GCED,
such as science and geography, and examples show how these links
can be enhanced.
There are examples of government-funded support to ESD and GCED
in teacher education (e.g. DICE in Ireland).
CPD often takes place with the support of external bodies, but
there are also examples of peer-led learning for teachers in ESD
and GCED.
There is less evidence on how gender, human rights and peace are
incorporated into teacher education. The literature (Reisman and
Janke, 2015) highlights the practical difficulties of delivering
CPD global themes to teachers in contexts where teacher educators
have limited capacity themselves to deliver such initiatives.
Evidence from Poland (IGO, 2013), for example, suggests that
incorporating GCED (for example) into the curriculum is not enough
on its own to motivate and change teacher education to ensure it is
incorporated. Ferreira et al (2015a, 2015b) examined the importance
of whole system support to incorporating ESD into teacher education
that involved a range of stakeholders and the benefits this could
bring. In terms of other impact, Hunt (2011) queries the extent to
which trainee teachers (ITE) will go onto include learning about
global themes in their practice, particularly in the initial years
of teaching. While there is evidence of changes in teachers’
practice as a consequence of engagement in CPD (Hunt and Cara, 2017
forthcoming), there is also a need for this professional
development to be sustained over a period of time (El-Bushra and
Rees Smith, 2016) and not tokenistic.
-
18
5 Methods, forms and recommendations for comparative monitoring
of ESD and GCED in teacher education
The aim of this section is to highlight methods and form of
comparative monitoring of ESD and GCED through teacher education
networks and broader forms of data gathering and quality assurance
that could be relevant to the development of themes identified in
this paper.
Teacher education networks
5.1.1 UNESCO and International Network of Teacher Education
Institutions (INTEI)
The International Network of Teacher Education Institutions
(INTEI) is associated with the UNESCO Chair on Reorienting Teacher
Education to Address Sustainability at York University in Canada.
The member institutions work to incorporate sustainability into
their programmes, practices and policies. INTEI has started to
collate a biennial report on embedding ESD in teacher education.
This data is sourced primarily through a survey across INTEI, a
network of teacher education institutions (TEIs) across than 70
countries, who have all self-declared interest in ESD. The 2014
questionnaire was designed to query teacher education policy and
practices. 50 completed surveys were received from TEIs from 44
countries and six responses were received from NGOs and other
bodies active in ESD and teacher education. The findings indicate
positive if incremental changes in attitudes, practices and
discourse around ESD (McKeown and Hopkins, 2014). Reflecting the
title and objectives of the network, the focus within the
questionnaire was solely upon ESD without consideration of GCED.
The survey is designed to capture examples of good practice and the
perceptions of those leading within ESD in particular institutions,
networks and countries. The 2014 survey did not include any
quantitative measures to capture progress over the longer term. The
survey was repeated in 2016, when TEIs were asked a small number of
questions relating to types of ESD activity. This survey required
qualitative responses and respondents were also asked to
self-report, on a numerical scale, the extent to which particular
concepts within ESD and GCED are reflected in policy, curriculum,
student’ assessment and teacher preparation. In 2016 respondents
were asked not only to self-report on education for sustainable
development (ESD) but also human rights, gender equality, promotion
of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and
appreciation of cultural diversity. The final report of the survey
is yet to be published. Despite an attempt to broaden the focus
beyond ESD, it is the view of the authors of this report that the
current methodology lacks the rigour, in terms of participation and
survey instrumentation, to effectively monitor the GCED and
ESD-related training of teachers across countries. INTEI met at
Visby in Sweden in August 2016 for the conference ‘Bridging the GAP
– Educators and Trainers’ hosted by Swedish International Centre of
Education for Sustainable Development (SWEDESD) at Uppsala
University. This meeting, attended by 126 teachers, teacher
educators, researchers and policy-makers from 47 countries, was to
produce recommendations for re-orientating teacher education to
ESD. The draft report from the conference includes suggestions for
developing partnership, practice and policy for ESD but does not
include an explicit focus on methodologies for measuring and
monitoring progress towards meeting these goals.
5.1.2 UK Teacher Education for Equity and Sustainability
Network
The UK Network for Teacher Education for Equity and
Sustainability (TEESnet) aims to develop a UK wide community of
practice in ESD and GCED within teacher education, and aims to
share research and practice in the field.
-
19
In 2009-10, TEESnet conducted an email survey to explore how
teacher educators approach ESDGC in their course provision. 32
responses were received from 27 providers. The report concluded
that while there were interesting examples of provision, there was
a lack of co-ordination of ESD/GCED within ITE providers and ESDGC
was often promoted in an ad-hoc way by individuals, with limited
support (Hunt et al, 2011: 2). Most ITE providers who responded to
the survey reported working with external bodies such as NGOs on
ESDGC, particularly to teach sessions and provide resources. A
recent TEESnet publication of case studies of pedagogical
approaches used in all four UK countries (Higher Education Academy,
2014) reiterates the importance of collaboration between teacher
education providers and NGOs suggesting the NGO sector may be a
valuable source of monitoring information in the UK and elsewhere.
More recently, members of TEESnet completed a comparative review of
policy and practice for ESD/GC in teacher education across the four
nations of the UK (Bamber et al, 2016) exploring aspects of
divergence and convergence across the UK. This comparative review
illustrates the difficulties of identifying indicators and
monitoring in this area. For instance, the research noted that all
four nations have reviewed their approaches to how teacher
education is conceptualised and governed within the last decade,
leading to a period of rapid change in the sector. The change of UK
government in 2010 heralded a raft of policy initiatives effecting
teacher education in England which have led to a concerted shift
from university to school-led provision, with the majority of
teacher training places now led by schools. This has led to the
proliferation of providers of ITE, complicating further any
attempts to monitor the extent to which ESDCE is embedded within
formal ITE practice.
5.1.3 World Programme for Human Rights Education
In 2009 the Human Rights Council included a focus within the
World Programme’s second phase (2010-2014) on human rights training
programmes for teachers and educators. At the end of this phase,
each participating country undertook an evaluation of actions
implemented under this plan of action. The survey elicited
responses from 28 countries and found that human rights currently
constituted a basic element in pre-service and in-service teacher
education for ‘several states’ (OHCHR, 2015). The survey found
there to be ‘a variety of opportunities for cooperation with other
Governments, international organizations and NGOs in human rights
training initiatives for teachers’. Also, the national context
provided a different focus for human rights initiatives in teacher
education, For example, there was a focus on gender, equality and
child rights in the Republic of Moldova, Sudan and Italy, and
HIV/AIDS and gender-based violence in Botswana.
5.1.4 United States Teacher Education for Sustainable
Development Network
The US Teacher Education for Sustainable Development Network is
a voluntary organisation of teacher educators and teacher education
institutions, with members from a range of universities from across
the United States, alongside other organisations, such as Kappa
Delta Pi and the National Network for Educational Renewal. This
network produced a report on Reorienting Teacher Education to
Address Sustainability in the US context (Teacher Education for ESD
Network, 2013) which summarised current practices and identified
potential themes for measuring progress, including teacher
certification, institutional accreditation and the dispositions in
the INTASC Model Teacher Education Standards.
5.1.5 The role and potential of regional and national
networks
We have highlighted above the potential for teacher education
networks to collect monitoring information from teacher education
institutions. This is not without its issues, as respondents tend
to be enthusiasts and their evidence might not be representative of
the wider-scale. Difficulties in monitoring across countries also
emerged
-
20
(Bamber et al, 2016). However, a range of teacher education
networks exist across the world on ESD and GCED14 and there is
potential that they too could be encouraged to collect such data.
More information about these networks can be found in APPENDIX 1,
10.3. There is further potential for monitoring of ESD / GCED in
teacher education to be undertaken by regional and national
networks:
Talloires Network15 is an international association of
institutions committed to strengthening the civic roles and social
responsibilities of higher education and is well placed to monitor
progress in community engagement and service learning.
Networks such as the Partnership for Education and Research
about Responsible Living (PERLs) focus on learning through social
innovation. They also conduct periodic monitoring of initiatives
(PERL, 2016) and could also be involved in efforts to capture
progress towards target 4.7.
Emergent networks may serve to strengthen collaboration between
academia, government and civil society to advance ESD/GC policy and
practice and may best secure the involvement of multiple
stakeholders.
For instance, the UN has recognised a number of Regional Centres
of Expertise (RCE) working to advance UNESCO’s planned Global
Action Programme on ESD (UNESCO, 2014).
Monitoring curricula and frameworks for quality assurance in
teacher education
Many countries have now developed professional standards
/competencies as the foundation for assuring the quality of
teaching (Conway et al, 2009), although reference to ESD and GCED
varies. Coding and analysis of published competencies / standards
for teaching, similar to the textbook analysis completed by the
International Bureau of Education for the 2016 GEM Report (IBE,
2016) may provide a productive way forward. However, this approach
has well-documented limitations, particularly when attempting an
international comparative study. This includes the difficulties of
identifying and securing a reliable data-set, the conceptual
definition of concepts for coding comparison, and the translation
and applicability of codes to different languages (see for example
IBE 2016, 25-27). If the resources and collaboration is secured to
conduct a global process to code national curriculum framework
documents using a standard protocol (as proposed in UNESCO, 2016:
369), an extension of this exercise to incorporate aspects teacher
education may be a cost-effective way forward. Analysis of teacher
education curriculum, for example through a standard coding
protocol for ESD/GC, however, must adopt a mixed methodological
approach that attends to how any published curriculum is mediated
and enacted in practice. Some education systems will afford teacher
educators high levels of autonomy in determining curriculum
development and implementation (Eurydice, 2007). Monitoring should
account for differences in approach even when policy and curricula
are determined at the national level. This supports the conclusions
of comparative evaluations of ESD/GC in teacher education that have
highlighted the importance of attending to the role of policy
networks and multiple actors involved in forming, mediating and
enacting policy and practice in this area (Bamber et al, 2016;
Tilbury, 2007).
14 Other examples include the Beijing International Forum on
Education for Sustainable Development.
15 http://talloiresnetwork.tufts.edu/
http://talloiresnetwork.tufts.edu/
-
21
5.2.1 Monitoring institutional commitments to ESD/GC
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Steering Committee on Education for Sustainable Development, at its
February 2009 meeting, established the Expert Group on Competences
in ESD with the mandate to define a range of core competences in
ESD for educators to facilitate the integration of ESD into all
educational programmes at all levels. The recommendations for
monitoring progress included focusing on assessing institutional
commitments to sustainable development and creating an enabling
environment for the development and practice of the competencies
(UNECE, 2012:12). The final report did not provide detail on how
this can be achieved in practice. The conclusion does however
substantiate the themes outlined in sections 3 and 4 of this report
regarding making connections to mainstream educational provision.
There are other examples of monitoring frameworks that could be
explored further. For example:
HRE 2020, a civil society coalition to support and strengthen
the implementation of international human rights education
commitments, has recently produced a set of indicators to be used
to monitor and assess the implementation of HRE (HRE 2020, 2015).
This includes domains on ‘HRE in the Curriculum, ‘HRE in Training
Materials and Methodologies’ and ‘HRE in Teacher Training’ that may
be used to support the monitoring of SDG 4.7.
International surveys to support ESD / GCED monitoring in
teacher education
Carefully selected indicators from international surveys can be
powerful drivers for change, but attempts to make explicit
educational phenomena and processes can easily become
overdetermined by metrics that become perverse ends in themselves
(Biesta, 2011). Moreover, focusing indicators upon international
surveys completed only by a subset of the international community
may further marginalise nations, including those with remote
communities (see for instance Liarakou, et al., 2016) and small
island states, silencing their contribution to policy and practice
in teacher education for ESD/GC. A challenge is to ensure
evaluations of ESD/GC interventions are consistent with the values
of ESD/GC itself (Mayer and Dillon, 2016). For instance, the
monitoring process should involve multiple stakeholder
participation. This is a particular challenge since ‘there is only
recent and limited experience of assessing progress through ESD
indicators’ (Tilbury, 2007: 253). The following outline examples of
international surveys with potential to support monitoring:
Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) It has been
suggested that global competence could be a theme in future rounds
of the quinquennial OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey
(TALIS). TALIS in 2013 covered 34 countries and was conducted in
primary and upper secondary schools as well. Although further
countries are expected to be involved in 2018, the limited coverage
qualifies the usefulness of this data. TALIS is an international
study of teachers, teaching, and learning environments. Therefore,
measures of teacher competence could be used to assess the
effectiveness of professional development for teachers.
International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) ICCS
is a comparative research program of the International Association
for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) that
investigates how young people are prepared to undertake their roles
as citizens. UNESCO and the IEA have established an official
agreement to collaborate to help countries monitor progress towards
SDG target 4.7, commencing with an extended study in 2019. They
have begun identifying a set of potential indicators for measuring
Target 4.7, one of which is being considered as a potential global
indicator for Target
-
22
4.7. We understand it is the intention of the two organizations
to extend this collaboration to further align future cycles of the
ICCS study with the indicator for Target 4.7 and to develop at
least one thematic report, relevant to GCED and ESD. Both the
school and teacher questionnaire in ICCS 2016 ask questions about
involvement in initiatives and programs related to environmental
sustainability. More promisingly, regional components allow
countries to explore specific topics of common interest. This
presents an opportunity to track progress in relation to regional
aims and goals.
Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) Global
policy discourse sympathetic to ESD/GC is also evident in the 2018
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The 2018
PISA will include measurement of global competence - assessing a 15
year olds awareness of the interconnected global world we live and
work in and their ability to deal effectively with the resulting
demands. The PISA sample items primarily relate to the
multiculturalism / interculturalism aspects of global citizenship.
However, sample items also include climate change in the
curriculum. The PISA data, collected triennially, is limited by
focusing on 15 years olds in formal education and the findings are
qualified by the usual concerns about international testing
methodologies. However, the sample items (OECD, 2016) from the
school questionnaire include some indicators of the extent to which
ESD / GC is embedded in teacher education. There could be potential
for this to be developed, but it would need the support of
OECD.
6 Recommendations to improve teacher education in the areas of
ESD and GCED
This paper has noted that there are wide variations around the
world in terms of levels of engagement in the areas of ESD and GCED
within teacher education. What the evidence tells us however is
that some common themes can be identified that could form the basis
of recommendations. Expertise and Building Capacity in ESD and GCED
ESD and GCED themes are complex areas and are often seen as being
marginal or counter to dominant pedagogical approaches within
teacher education. It is often difficult for a teacher educator to
gain expertise and build support for ESD and GCED themes within
their institutions. A question to pose therefore is where and how
do teacher educators develop their knowledge and expertise in ESD
and GCED? In some countries this can be through a range of
accredited courses at masters or doctoral level, but these
opportunities may not be available to many teacher educators. The
Teacher Education for Sustainability Resource16 provides an
important starting point for the development of building capacity
and expertise. There are also initiatives by Earth Charter
International17 and the MESA toolkit on environmental education18.
There are a range of online courses on global education run by the
North-South Centre and the British Council that include specific
modules on intercultural dialogue, human rights and democratic
citizenship19. There is also free access to online conferences and
networks via the Global Education Conference. What perhaps is
needed is a portal site to bring these and other initiatives
together with an extension to more directly include themes of human
rights, gender equality and global citizenship. Dialogue could also
be developed
16 http://www.unesco.org./education/tlsf/ 17
http://earthcharter.org/events/online-certificate-education-sustainable-development/
18 http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/mesa.asp 19
http://nscglobaleducation.org.
http://www.unesco.org./education/tlsf/http://earthcharter.org/events/online-certificate-education-sustainable-development/http://www.unep.org/training/programmes/mesa.asphttp://nscglobaleducation.org/
-
23
with a range of leading universities around the world who are
promoters of these themes in their teacher education programmes to
make direct reference to these materials. Role and Contribution of
External Bodies such as International NGOs The evidence outlined in
this paper has identified that a major driver for the inclusion of
ESD and GCED has been the contribution of bodies external to
teacher education, such as civil society organisations. In a range
of countries, initiatives have tended to come from outside of the
training institution through the securing of funding from
international bodies, national governments or private sector
partners. However, compared with other areas of education, the
initial training of teachers has had a lower priority for these
civil society organisations. In Europe for example, whilst some
projects may have had a professional development of teachers’
component, less than 10% of projects funded by Europe Aid over the
past decade have had ITE as a major focus (See Rajacic, et al.,
2010). Similar trends in terms of lack of recognition can be found
elsewhere in the world in terms of projects around peace,
environment and global education, although there have been
exceptions such as the UNICEF project in Sierra Leone20. What is
needed is for funding bodies (multilateral, bilateral and
philanthropic) and international NGOs to give a higher
consideration to the contribution of teacher education to achieving
objectives around ESD and GCED. Value of International Partnerships
to support development of models of good practice and sharing
expertise Some of the most innovative models of practice identified
in this paper have been as a result of universities (Darji and
Lang-Wojtasik, 2014; Boni et.al, 2013) and in some cases, civil
society organisations21 working together to develop expertise and
share examples of practice. There are a range of funding bodies at
a national and international level (including World Bank;
government departments responsible for aid; European Commission
initiatives such as Erasmus) that have and could do more to support
such initiatives. International partnerships can sometimes be
one-way relationships, with the Northern partner determining the
content and delivery in the Southern context (Bourn and Cara,
2012). There is however evidence of teacher education institutions
working together to develop joint programmes of mutual learning
(see Martin and Raja, 2014). Role of Policy-Makers It is evident
that as a consequence of the Decade on Education for Sustainable
and the leadership provided by the UN and UNESCO, the themes that
are the focus of this report have much higher prominence amongst
policy-makers than they did at the beginning of the twenty-first
century. At a national level, ministries responsible for
international development and the environment have given funding
and resources to projects and initiatives that make references to
teacher education. However, there are only a few examples such as
in China, South Korea and Ireland (Martin et al., 2016) where
national government monies have been used in a strategic way to
support initiatives directly within teacher education. There are
many examples in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific region of
the inclusion in strategies and programmes on continual
professional development of teachers, but these tend to be outputs
from projects rather than the main focus. A theme in a number of
countries in Europe particularly (see Bourn, 2015) is that policy
initiatives on ESD and GCED have not been followed up by increased
resources to build capacity and expertise within the teaching
20
http://learningforpeace.unicef.org/resources/sierra-leone-emerging-issues-teacher-training-programme/
21 www.bgz-berlin.de; www.varianty.cz
http://learningforpeace.unicef.org/resources/sierra-leone-emerging-issues-teacher-training-programme/http://www.varianty.cz/http://www.bgz-berlin.de
-
24
profession. In Poland, despite a national curriculum focus on
global education, a lack of awareness and institutional support
means that incorporation of global education into ITE remains
largely with the individual teacher educator. Moreover, with the
possible exception of Australia (Ferreira, et al, 2015a, 2015b),
initiatives with regard to teacher education tend to be on a
specific element of ESD or GCED and not developed in a holistic
way, incorporating the range of adjectival themes and key
stakeholders across teacher education. Within policies in higher
education that might make direct reference to ESD or GCED themes,
they are likely to give minimal reference to teacher education. For
example, there have major international initiatives on themes such
as internationalization (Deardoff et al, 2012) and sustainable
development within higher education (Barth et al, 2016), but there
have been very few references to teacher education within them.
There is a strategic need for national policy makers who have
responsibility for environmental education and GCED to give greater
recognition to teacher education, to encourage and support
programmes that embed these themes within both the initial training
of teachers and ongoing professional development. Incorporating ESD
and GCED themes within the training of teachers in specific
subjects The themes of sustainable development and global
citizenship can be seen within a range of subjects and topics
within the school curriculum. In some countries, there have been
recommendations for the inclusion of these themes within specific
subjects or in some cases as cross-curricula themes. There are a
number of subjects that directly lend themselves to the themes of
sustainability and global citizenship. These are geography, social
studies, sciences and citizenship / civics education. It is
recommended therefore that any course concerned with the training
of geography teachers, be they initial or in-service, should make
specific reference to themes outlined in the SDGs. The teaching of
sciences (Bodzin, et al., 2010) can also easily include learning
about local environmental themes and wider global issues such as
climate change, pollution, clean water, and ‘affordable and clean
energy’. Citizenship and civics and social studies curriculum areas
lend themselves to learning about how to engage in society and
understandings of political institutions. In many countries, the
tendency of teaching is to focus more on local and national
considerations (Arthur, et al., 2008), rather than global aspects.
It is in the training of teachers in these areas that there are
perhaps the most important openings to address the lack of learning
about global citizenship in the classroom. The Global Goals on
‘Responsible Consumption and Production’, Peace, Justice and Strong
Institutions and ‘Reducing Inequality’ should be on the curriculum
of these subjects. These subject areas are the most obvious in
terms of including major knowledge components around the SDGs. But
other subjects such as mathematics, language learning and literacy
could all use global and sustainable themes. For example numeracy
skills can play an important role in understanding causes and
impact of global poverty in specific countries. As research by
Alcock and Ramirez-Barker (2016) has shown, improving writing
skills can be a valuable opening for addressing global and
sustainability themes. In a number of countries there are also
curriculum areas covering personal and health education (Ito and
Nakayama, 2014) and within these areas, subjects such as conflict
resolution, peace and gender education could be, and in some
countries are, covered. For example there is an obvious connection
with the Global Goals on ‘Good Health and Well-Being’ and ‘Gender
Equality’ Quality Assurance and Inspections The increasing focus in
many countries on quality assurance bodies can be an important
mechanism to sustain and improve practice in teacher education,
both at the initial and in-service level. For instance, UNECE
recommended that academic quality assurance instruments (such as
school inspection, institutional and departmental reviews and
external evaluations) should be underpinned by a set of defined
competences for ESD and GCED (UNECE, 2012). To address these
themes, there is a need for greater clarity around terminology
and
-
25
concepts relevant to ESD and GCED, for example social justice,
inter-cultural understanding and a sense of environmental
responsibility. Without such quality assurance and evidence of
practice, studies suggest that ESD and GCED can be lost within
wider curriculum priorities (Hunt, 2012). Around the world there
are strategies within higher education on sustainable development
and internationalization. There are regular forms of reporting
progress on these themes at a regional level and in some countries
also at a national level. As noted in this paper, teacher education
rarely features in this reporting. A recommendation therefore is
that bodies responsible for measuring progress on sustainable
development and internationalization should be encouraged to:
- Identify and encourage approaches within teacher education
that include the SDGs and make explicit reference to sustainable
development and global citizenship.
- Generate closer collaboration between bodies responsible for
internationalization and sustainability agendas.
All countries will be asked on an annual basis to report
progress on the SDGs and to facilitate this process, networks of
organisations within an interest in sustainable development and
global citizenship should at a national level be encouraged to
provide evidence that can demonstrate progress within teacher
education. Securing Accountability A major challenge in progressing
the influence of the SDGs within teacher education is to secure
meaningful engagement and a culture of accountability amongst
policy-makers and bodies responsible for the delivery of the
training of teachers. A model that has becoming increasingly
influential within Europe has been the Peer Review process on
Global Education organized by Global Education Network Europe
(Hartmeyer and Wegimont, 2016). This network of government
organisations across Europe have valued their peers commenting on
current practices in their own country and identifying how best to
develop strategies. This model could be piloted in other regions
through the engagement of not just government ministries but higher
education bodies and those organisations responsible for validating
and accrediting teacher education courses.
-
26
Developing modules that include specific emphasis on ESD and
GCED themes within training courses for senior managers within
schools. To have a sustainable impact within schools, policy-makers
and bodies responsible for delivering training of senior managers
should be encouraged to include sessions on ethos and mission of
the school in terms of addressing global and environmental
responsibility. The importance of this had been identified in
research in the UK (Birney et al, 2011). In addition, any specific
qualifications or certification for training of senior managers
within a school should include within its specification an
understanding of the role of the school within the context of
living in a global society and equipping its pupils to have a sense
of their responsibility to live sustainably. If the professional
development of senior managers is linked to broader forms of
qualification, for example a Masters' programme on leadership, then
this could include the introduction of a specific module on
Leadership for a Global and Sustainable Society. Resourcing
opportunities for teacher educators to network and share expertise
and approaches There is evidence from around the world of a range
of networking initiatives within teacher education (see: APPENDIX
1, 10.3). An example of this from the UK was the Open
Sustainability in Education Resource (OSIER) project22 which was
funded by the Higher Education Academy and ran from 2010 to 2012
and was co-ordinated by the TEESNet network which acted as a
repository for resources and models of training courses for
teachers. Over a hundred resources and examples of courses were
made available and whilst this resource was popular with those
actively engaged in ESD and GCED themes, it did not appear to
engage a broader community (Priddle et al, 2012). ESD and GCED
themes are still on the margins of most teacher education
activities and those who are passionate about these areas need
support to make them more mainstream and to feel less isolated.
Where networks tend to exist they tend to cover one of the
adjectival areas covered by this discussion paper. What is needed
are the promotion of sharing of expertise across networks and to
encourage existing groupings to broaden their focus and membership.
In too many countries around the world, networks concerned with ESD
and GCED tend to operate in parallel to each other. They might make
references to each-others’ work, but a priority has to be at a
national and regional level for networks and policy-makers to
recognise the value of having one overarching strategy or forum.
This will maximise resources and is more likely to have greater
impact upon learners. It is noticeable that in countries where
there has been closer co-operation such as Ireland (Martin, et at,
2016), Finland (Hartmeyer and Wegimont, 2016) and Scotland (Wisely
et al, 2010), teachers are better equipped and trained to have the
knowledge and skills to deliver the themes central to the SDGs.
Recognising Specific Starting Points Within the need for strategic
co-operation across the ESD and GCED themes, there needs also to be
a pragmatic approach which recognises specific starting points and
opportunities within individual countries. It may be that a
mechanism for securing broader progress and change will come from
projects on specific themes such as peace and conflict resolution,
climate change or gender education, which could lead to the
recognition of the interconnected nature of many issues. Themes can
also become a way of demonstrating more learner-centred pedagogical
approaches. Targets could therefore be set that encourage training
programmes that demonstrate connections between improving the
quality of teaching to learning about a specific theme within ESD
and GCED.
22 http://osier.ac.uk/199/
http://osier.ac.uk/199/
-
27
Using the Language and Themes within Education As this paper has
identified, there a range of themes within education and the
training of teachers that can make a connection to the themes of
ESD and GCED. What therefore is needed is to demonstrate where and
how themes such as global competencies, inter-cultural skills and
promoting teachers as agents of change can contribute to progress
on the SDGs. This can be done by building evidence of the impact of
courses for teachers that address these themes to broader
educational influences within the schools. It is in this way that
connections can be made to influencing bodies responsible for
assessing teachers’ performance, accreditation and validation.
Framework for Measuring Progress on ESD and GCED within Teacher
Education As the earlier sections in this chapter have suggested, a
range of approaches need to be undertaken to gather the appropriate
evidence to measure progress towards incorporating ESD and GCE
themes within teacher education. If monitoring is to be both
inclusive and comprehensive, it requires more than a reliance on
existing ESD contacts. There is a need to bring in evidence gained
from other areas such as subject specific networks, bodies
responsible for monitoring citizenship education and policy-makers
within an interest in the themes. In several regions of the world
that are well established networks in areas such as citizenship and
human rights education. They need to be consulted on measuring
progress on the SDGs. For example it may be appropriate to identify
specific themes in